The return of Rocket!

[NFO-1]

"Rocket" started hanging out at my place a month or so ago. He (guessing it's a "he" here), was a mess. Ribs sticking out, hair all matted, skittish as a cat can be.

I started putting food and water out for him a couple weeks ago and he's fattened up considerably and started cleaning himself nicely. Hairs all clean looking and no junk in it. Ribs aren't visible any more. Face is looking round instead of sunken and hollow.

He still stays well out of reach, but he'll now sit about 6 feet away while I bring out his food and water each morning before work.

I caught another cat with a collar on eating his food today. I ran it off.

We'll see what happens with Rocket.

[NFO-1]

It looks like Rocket just used me....

Oh my!

hehe

He hasn't shown his furry little face for more than a week now.

I'm not feeding the Armadillos.

[NFO-1]

Still no Rocket.

I hope the little guy is ok. Oh well.

Maybe he's off hunting or mating...

[Shawna]

I hope he comes back. It sounds like he needs a friend.

[NFO-1]

Originally Posted by Shawna

I hope he comes back. It sounds like he needs a friend.

I think he's gone back to his old home, wherever that is. Haven't seen him a single time.

Oh well, Bammers and The Dink are still both Number One Cat.

Just put the "Advantage" on both. Bammers doesn't care a bit about it. He was eating while I put it behind his neck and he never missed a bite.

The Dink however, thinks it's nuclear fallout that's red hot, burning sulfuric acid that I'm trying to put on his neck to kill him. He hears that cupboard open and man-oh-man, he's in the couch where no man has gone before.

I have to pick the day, wait until I'm petting him, hold him until I can put him into a travel cage, get the stuff ready, open the cage and block him from fleeing to "safety", ears flat back, hissing and squirming, I finally get it on his neck. Then he hides behind the couch while glaring at me for torturing him, until the next morning and meets me at the bedroom door like nothing happened.

He's just testing me.

It's all about that joke about Chinese food I told him.

Payback.

[NFO-1]

I saw Rocket again! He's all brushed up and looking well fed, so I think someone else has him. He was sure pathetic when I first saw him.

[NFO-1]

Well, now I don't know what to think. Rocket came back with his hair all matted and full of debris, skin stretched out over too obvious ribs.

I put out a bowl of food for him and he tore into it with passion, eating half again as much as my inside cats do in a day.

He did stay closer this time. He allowed me to stand within 6 feet of him after he finished eating. Now he's off again. He seems to be quite the traveler.

I'll see what happens next. Maybe I'm just a stop-off in his world of cat adventures.

[NFO-1]

Hey, Rocket is doing much better. He's now hanging out here about 3 or 4 days a week. I come home at lunch everyday, and if he's here, I give him a cup of food. In the evening, if that's when I see him, I give him a cup of food.

See? He's got me trained already!

[NFO-1]

Rocket's still hanging out. I see him almost every day now. He's fattened up considerably and he just stays relaxed and purring about 6 feet from me when I go by or bring his food out.

I stepped towards him just a little and he immediately got to his feet and braced for a run. I'll let him have his space until he makes the first move towards me.

[NFO-1]

Well, Rocket got a laugh on me! I have my lawn tractor parked on the front porch pad for later today and as I walked out to take out the trash this morning, I didn't see that Rocket has claimed the seat as his bed for now. I got right next to it and he stood up, looking warily at me! I didn't even slow down, it startled me, and I'm sure glad it wasn't a rattlesnake, but at least he didn't run off.

He's really starting to look good! He's filled out to almost where he should be if in perfect health. I imagine it'll take a few more weeks for him to get to his proper weight.

An interesting point; he doesn't touch the well water I put out for him. I guess he's got a water source that he's comfortable with already, and it must not taste like my well water. I even tried bottled water and he ignored that as well.